Saturday, May 21, 2016

Belgium April 2016

After a record March, April was another great month, with 848 EV's registered, up 156% YoY, with the EV Share now at 1.55%, being currently one of the fastest growing markets.

As was the case throughout this year, in April the Volvo XC90 T8 (153 units) continued to lead the way, this time followed by the BMW X5 PHEV (122) and Nissan Leaf (77).

Looking at the YTD ranking, there are some peculiarities to it, like the fact that the three positions in the podium belong to high-end SUV's, looking down, five out of the Top 10 positions are also to SUV's and what's more, only three models in the Top 10 aren't AWD, which proves the impact that the snow-heavy climate of the Belgian Alps have in consumer needs...

Looking at the changes in the ranking, they all occurred behind the #7 BMW i3, the Mercedes GLE500e climbed one position to #8 (One position away from its best position in the world, #7 in Finland, a country with similar climate as Belgium), the BMW 225xe Active Tourer jumped 8 positions to #9, while its 330e relative climbed four positions to #11, making these two the best Rookies of the Year by far.

In the manufacturers ranking, Volvo (24%) still leads, but BMW (24%, up 4%) is just 20 units behind, so it will be a matter of days until the German brand profits from its strong lineup and becomes the best selling brand. In Third we have Porsche, with 11% (Down 1%), but Mercedes (10%) is becoming increasingly threatening, so another interesting race is developing for the Bronze medal.

There was an additional Toyota Mirai registered last month, elevating the Fuel Cell tally to six units this year, five Mirai's and one Hyundai ix35 FCEV.

If we combine April regular hybrid sales with plug-ins, the Toyota Yaris Hybrid is the surprise #1, followed by the previous leader Auris Hybrid, down to only 194 units, this slow month might have an explanation with the good performance of its SUV brethren, the RAV4 Hybrid, managing to reach #5, making three SUV's in the Top 5. Here too, SUV's reflect Belgium's Alpine climate...